Mystery, She Wrote
Mystery, She Wrote is the 6th episode of Season 8 of Kids Incorporated and 132nd episode overall. In this episode, Ana struggles to come up with a mystery story for her English class. Plot Summary After opening with the song "Who, Where, Why"; during their break Kenny mentions that a friend named Morgan (owner of the Maltese Music Shop) let him test a new guitar he made prior to making it available for sale. Following "Too Many Fish in the Sea"; Flip then calls a basketball practice. Ana, meanwhile, is working on a mystery story for her English class; leading to Kenny asking Ana to watch the guitar while he and the others are gone. At this point, inspiration strikes Ana. In the story, P.I. Anastasia gets a visit from Inspector Flipster requesting help from the Royal Family, as a charity event they were hosting at the Gracestone mansion was imperiled after the Maltese Guitar had just been stolen before it was to be played by Sir Elvis Evergreen (who would then auction it off for charity). P.I. Anastasia is immediately on the case ("Tell Me When"). That night, the suspects are brought to Gracestone; where P.I. Anastasia immediately questions the suspects; starting with Butler Whitechapel (who is revealed to really be Reggie Whitewalls; Cockney tie thief); Ms. Lavender (Sir Elvis' voice teacher); the Colonel (Sir Elvis' manager; whose motive if he was the suspect was to collect on the insurance) and finally Sir Elvis himself (to avoid it being exposed that he couldn't sing). But before the culprit could be revealed, the lights go out; causing the suspects to scatter ("The Mystery of You"). The guitar is ultimately recovered; but we return to the real world before the fictional private investigator would reveal "Whodunit" in the story. Ana then turns and notices the guitar is missing (despite the door being locked). With this appearing to be a case of art imitating life; Ana briefly notes Jared had come in early, but since the door was locked from inside, it had to be someone with the key...which only leaves Flip (who as it turns out, went to get the guitar after Morgan was able to get a buyer for it); leading to closing song "Right Here, Right Now". Kid Cast * Nicole Brown - Nicole and Ms. Lavender * Jared Delgin - Jared and the Colonel * Kenneth Wesley "Kenny" Ford Jr. - Kenny and Sir Elvis Evergreen * Anastasia Horne - Ana and P.I. Anastasia * Haylie Johnson - Haylie and Reggie Whitewalls (alias Butler Whitechapel) Adult Cast * Sean O'Riordian - Flip and Inspector Flipster Dancers * Charon Aldredge * Brian Friedman * Jennifer King * Danielle Marcus-Janssen * Tony Perrin Songs * "Who, Where, Why (This is Kids Inc.)" (Kids Incorporated original; performed by Haylie) * "Too Many Fish in the Sea" (The Marvelettes cover; performed by Ana, Nicole and Haylie with effects by Kenny) * "Tell Me When" (Kids Incorporated original; performed by Ana) * "The Mystery of You" (Kids Incorporated original; performed by Ana, Haylie and Nicole) * "Right Here, Right Now" (Jesus Jones cover; performed by Kenny and Nicole) Trivia * This episode marks the second of two consecutive episodes where Robby Benson, an actor and singer best known for providing the voice of the Beast/Prince Adam in the 1991 Disney version of "Beauty and the Beast". In addition, Benson's wife Karla DeVito guest starred in the previous season's episode "Flip Out". * The episode title is a reference to the 1984-96 CBS mystery series "Murder: She Wrote"; while the name of the music shop (and the guitar in the story) is a reference to the Dashiell Hammett novel "The Maltese Falcon" and the two subsequent movies in 1931 and most notably, the 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart * In addition to Sir Elvis Evergreen being a reference to Elvis Presley; the Colonel is a reference to Elvis' relatively shady manager, Colonel Tom Parker * The theory that Sir Elvis faked the theft to avoid being exposed as not being able to sing is a reference to the then-recent scandal involving Milli Vanilli after a handful of incidents (most famously a live performance on MTV in 1989 when the recording of "Girl You Know It's True" jammed; resulting in the line "Girl, you know it's..." repeating) led to the revelation that front-men Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan not only didn't sing live but didn't even sing for the recording. * Jared didn't sing in this episode. Category:List of Episodes of Kids Incorporated Category:List of Season 8 Episodes of Kids Incorporated Category:Episodes that Jared didn't sing Category:Episodes directed by Robby Benson Category:Episodes written by Ted Allen Category:Episodes written by Greg Klein